When Andrew Bynum left with a knee injury in the first quarter of Saturday evening’s game in Memphis, the collective spirits of Bynum’s teammates, coaches, Lakers staff and fans everywhere were completely in the dumps.

Upon seeing Bynum putting weight on his knee and even smiling in the locker room, those collective spirits may have lifted just a bit heading into the young center’s coming MRI Sunday morning in New York.

Here’s the audio of what Bynum had to say after the game to assembled reporters:

Note that in the audio, Lakers sideline reporter John Ireland had to repeat some earlier questions because KCAL was doing a live hit from the locker room. Alas, here’s a rough transcription of what Bynum said from the locker room.

“It just felt like he hit me on the side of the leg. No pops, I didn’t hear any pops. Basically, it just hurt the inside of the knee. It’s much better than last year, last year I couldn’t put any pressure on it or walk or anything like that. I really don’t need this crutch, they just want me to keep the weight off (the knee). No pops, no giving. It sucks to be injured again, but I can walk … I have to be optimistic. I definitely want to return and get back to the things I was doing out there. I have no idea (about time of return), we have to wait for the MRI. It feels a little bit better from (before), but that might be because of the ice.”